5 Cutting Activities to Build Fine Motor Skills

As a parent, you think of safety and that scissors are a dangerous thing for kids to be around.

I vividly remember the first week I took my oldest to daycare when he was three. The teachers there had him cutting right away and realized that he had no idea what to do. I had never given him the chance to hold a scissors even prior to that time.

Kids pick it up cutting skills very quickly when you offer them the opportunity.

See the amazing tips at the end of the post to get your child started!

We’ve tried many scissors along the road and I’ve always found that the Fiskars Pointed-tip scissors work the best for my kids. I have always recommended them and am honored to be working with Fiskars to share with you five different cutting activities to help build fine motor skills and practice using a scissors!

Don’t worry about whether your child is holding the scissors right when they’re starting, they’ll eventually catch on. Just every once in awhile, change the scissors so it’s the right direction, and so that their thumb is up.

You can also do this with other doughs, like slime!

It’s really fun to let the slime start falling from a rack and have your child cut the slime before it touches the table.

Of course, cut paper!

Beginners might not be able to cut accurately, but they can still get practice in.

Try one of these simple cutting activities that has scissors skills at the center:

Cut straws, strings and ribbons

Straws are a super easy beginner item to cut with your child’s Fiskars scissors. They’re thin, but yet stiff to not bend in the scissors.

It’s easy to set up a cutting station with my favorite pair of kids’ scissors, a tub or bowl, and some straws. This may also work well with pipe cleaners, however they take a little more strength to cut through.

You can also do this with string, yarn or ribbon. This can be a little more advanced, depending on if it just bends in the scissors, or if it needs to be held taut. You can always hold it taut for your child as they snip.

To make this so your child can do it on their own, tape down one end to the table and have them hold the other end with their non-cutting hand. And then snip away!

It’s okay to play with your food and cut it!

Kids can also practice cutting with their scissors on hot dogs, any kind of cooked noodles, and even tortillas are easy for beginner cutters!

My kids always like their spaghetti cut up for dinner too, it’s okay to have them cut it up with a pair of scissors first. It gives them this great feeling of independence of being able to do it on their own.

New to cutting activities? How to start:

Start earlier than you think. Preschoolers may start to show an interest in cutting around the ages of 3 or 4. Introduce a scissors when they’re interested. They may not have developed all the hand strength they need at this time, but its good to practice and introduce fine motor activities.

Start with tearing and ripping paper. Seasoned early childhood teacher, Vanessa of Pre-K Pages suggests the order of which to expect and encourage kids to cut. Starting with simple tearing paper, leading them through snipping and fringing, and finally getting to cutting on lines and beyond. Read more and get the full order for learning to use a scissors.

Every child develops on a different timetable…..I feel that moms should give their children appropriate cutting activities (with supervision/assistance) when they show an interest in cutting. Sometimes it’s just snipping paper and then they’re not interested again for awhile….

I tried my daughter with scissors around 18 months but she could not get the grip idea on the scissors. She is interested still at 23 months but still not quite there. I like your ideas for cutting food and other items-but I guess we will wait a bit longer to try again.

I introduced scissors to my son when he turned 3 yrs old. I got a child safe scissors from Dollar store and showed him how to hold it and how to cut . He is almost 5 now and has cut playdough, straws etc . he can use the scissors with confidence and really likes his cut and paste artwork in his school and at home too…

I started my daughter with scissors at about 4years old as she was delayed in her fine motor skills and intellectual development also. I started her in the kitchen where she could cut dough and and herbs to start out. She had a blast helping with making food and the meal she would eat later. We also did the play dough and made many noodles to use on art projects later. Then She started on helping me cut out bookmarkers for her library at school where she used a table edge to help keep the line straight. and cutting out shapes to hang in her windows followed.

At 27 months! An older relative gave my daughter a pair to play with and I’m so glad that I did not stop her from using them. She loved cutting and it was a great focusing activity. We continue to cut for fun and I plan to start her baby sister playing with scissors shortly after she turns 2 as well!

I started my children at age two years. I have used a variety of scissors to start with, sometimes spring loaded and sometimes the tiny scissors. We used similar activities to what you described as a starting point.

I don’t have my own kids, but as a Speech Therapist…I have LOTS of kiddos! Since I work with children that have disabilities, every child is different due to individual limitations.
Youngest? 3 ☺️ Thank you for giving this awesome gift to one lucky winner. At times I spend more money than I make! Schools/home health companies do not provide materials (from my experience) so I’ve accumulated therapy materials since I graduated college. I’m always looking for supplies! Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas ?!?

When did you give, or have you given, your child a chance to start cutting?
I gave her a chance to cut with scissors when she turned two and a half years old. That’s when she developed great eye hand coordination and when her attention span increased. I may have been more nervous than she :-)

This package of scissors excite me. I am a grandma who has used Fiskars scissors ever since I remember. My grandmother bought me my first pair of pinking shears and sewing scissors when I first started sewing in 1971. She told me never to cut wire or paper with these particular scissors and I listened to her and still have them today, sharp as ever! Now I watch two 2 year olds and we use very blunt scissors to cut playdoh. They love to cut snakes made out of playdoh. I can’t wait until we can cut out various crafts when they get a little older. Thank you for this amazing giveaway that I would love to give to my grandchildren to grow up with.

I have an 18 month old and my oldest just turned 3 this month. I have’nt actually let him cut anything with scissors yet or even let him hold them. I have been to concerned with safety. I have gave it a thought though. After reading this post and seeing the different activitirs I definately think its time to buy a pair. I really want to try the beginner scissors that spring open. How neat!!!! I cant wait to try our own cutting activities!

My daughter started last year in her 2 year old class just for exposure of cutting and getting the idea of opening and closing. I am an OT so we started at home with fun cutting tasks like cutting straws, playdoh snakes. Now we are onto cutting lines. :-)

I think I gave my son a chance to start cutting at 2 or 3 years old. Maybe 2.5? He is very careful though so I wasn’t worried. My daughter is 18 months. Haven’t let her try yet but I’m sure she’d love to give it a shot.

I love providing cutting opportunities. Straws are probably my favorite as the visual aspect of them flying around and the auditory aspect of the popping sound when cut provide a multi-sensory experience that motivates further cutting ideas.

I didn’t give my child cutting practice til she was in my 3 yr old preschool class. I know our sitter did give her some practice before then. Looking back I wish I would’ve done it a little sooner. With my son I will work on it more at home.

I started working with my Kid when he turned 3 year old , and as part of the activity i first asked him to cut the paper in any shape he wanted and how ever .
The second level that i have begun is cutting noodles and dough which is soft for the child and also interesting for the child .
The third level which i have started is drawing few shapes on the chart paper and ask him to cut according to the shape for example using simple shapes like circle or leaves etc .

This year for Christmas, I had my five kids pick each other’s name as a secret Santa. My four-year-old daughter got her older brother’s name so we decided to make a homemade Lego board game for him. My two-year-old son was sitting watching us as we are making it and the next thing I knew he had Mary’s scissor and he was cutting out the board pieces the best he could. So I guess today my two-year-old learned how to use a scissor! He actually did really well!

Our kids, grands, & greats have been encouraged to cut from 2-3 years old — as soon as they can hold a round-tipped scissors. HOWEVER, it’s a VERY long time before they are allowed to touch my “good” scissors! ;)

Hi. I introduced my daughter to scissors before she entered preschool. I’m an occupational therapist, so I was comfortable doing this with kids. Her teachers have always remarked on what a great cutter she is. I love Fiskars! They have always been the scissors I choose professionally and as a parent. They make learning to cut with scissors easy!

Hi. I introduced my daughter to scissors before she entered preschool. I’m an occupational therapist, so I was comfortable doing this with kids. Her teachers have always remarked on what a great cutter she is. I love Fiskars! They have always been the scissors I choose professionally and as a parent. They make learning to cut with scissors easy!

I am Home Daycare and we start giving the children scissors by 3 years old. Under supervision children can cut a variety of things and helps with hand eye coordination. By the way, Fiskars are the best, they always cut unlike many other child scissors. Thank you

I gave my children the chance to start cutting early, probably around two. I put together a cutting book, pieces of paper from magazines, coloring books etc. that they could use to try and cut out their favorite pictures. It’s been fun to see them practice their cutting skills on their books.

My baby girl started using scissors around 3 1/2. She loves to cut anything actually, paper, tissue, the tags from new clothing. She hasn’t tried cutting noodles yet. I will need to create the opportunity for her to do that.

I am a nanny to 2 precious little girls, in addition to being a mother to 3 grown daughters and grandmother to a 3 year old granddaughter and an 18 month old grandson. I am also a former first grade teacher, so I am very aware that there are many young children that go to school without any experience cutting with scissors. Thank you so much for providing many valuable resources that work with this skills and so many others, too.

I forgot to add that I started the children I nanny at 2-1/2 years of age. One of them is 3 and the other will be 3 in a few weeks. The 3 year old is already pretty accomplished at cutting, but the younger one is so independent that she often avoids instruction. We’ll keep working on it- she’ll get there eventually!

I think my little fella first held a pair of scissors around age 3. As is the norm around our humble abode, my husband panicked while I let our P Bear go to town on a pile of junk mail. I had read an article about cutting helping motor skills and I’m sort of a “try and see” kind of parent, so we tried and saw it was awesome! Hooray for scissors!!! Hooray for Fiskars!!!!

These are such great tips! I’m a nanny to a 3 year old now and when his parents started giving him scissors at 2, I didn’t understand why at such a young age. I knew it would take him awhile to catch on but to my surprise he eventually did! He practices weekly with paper, to keep him busy while his dad is making breakfast. :)

I love watching my children (now ages 7 and 5) cut different papers, yarn (and other things used for tying), and foil and see what kind of interesting items that they build! They both started cutting at age 3, and had plenty of practice in preschool. I liked it when their teachers gave them curvy lines for them to trace, and then to cut. Now they are both pretty experienced cutters, and the older one is even interested in wrapping gifts for his friends’ birthdays.

When I taught my son sequencing.I had him cut out He enjoyed cutting. Thank you.story words and pictures connected to the story to put them in order on a work sheet. I had him cut out in shapes and glue them to a paper.

We work on cutting but his fine motor skills are so behind that it takes lots of work for me to feel safe with him even holding the scissors. Blunt scissors are a blessing but he wants to use “big boy” scissors. :(

I offer 3-4 year olds opportunities to cut nearly every day! I also recommend use of plastic scissors, such as can be found in Play Dough activity kits, which allays parents’ concerns regarding safety.
I love Fiskars scissors as they are the highest quality of scissors, especially for little hands.

My own son Cory started doing almost everything early, probably because I am a Pre-K Special Educator (for children with disabilities, and spent several hours a week “trying out” all my ideas and the activities planned for my students. Most of the things we did with beginning scissors skills are mentioned in the above article, such as snipping playdough “snakes”, cooked spaghetti, paper scraps, string, yarn and ribbon, as well as straws (for collages and “art”). We did this as early as one year old.

One idea I did not see mentioned above was using colorful junk mail, glossy advertising fliers and the like as a source of pictures, words and letters to cut out for collages, to make greeting cards, etc. We started doing this (with some help) as early as 18mos. old. Later I had him practice cutting “on the line” (almost) by cutting out square, rectangular or circular pictures from junk mail , or even just cutting beneath a line of print from advertising letters with NO pictures. Junk mail is free, and you were just going to toss it into the trash anyway!

Christmas is the best time for cutting projects! Both my son and my daughter love cutting out snowflakes to hang on our wall every year. My daughter was two the first time she created her own pattern and I helped her cut it out (we used safety scissors for obvious reasons). It ended up being the best snowflake pattern of the bunch!

I found some 100% plastic scissors shaped like bunnies in a bin at my school. I teach high school so I have no idea why they were here. My son was about 2.5 (like many posters mentioned) when I let him try to cut paper from old magazines.

As a teacher I have seen many students entering preschool with no experience using scissors. I encourage parents to give their children safety scissors with materials that they can practice with, such as old greeting cards or play-dough. Using those fine motor skills can give young children confidence in their ability and set them on the path to success!

We start using scissors prior to 3 years. Their curiosity to use them has usually started when we’re outside trimming plants, bushes and trees. The “big” scissors outside, with the help of dad or mom, are much more fun (and destructive ?) for the boys too. I love the idea of having them cut weeds and grass as practice!!!

I had my children start cutting from the age of 1 1/2 to 2 years old with handle scissors, using play dough, bread dough, ect. Then they moved on to stiff paper (easier to grip) at about 2 1/2 to three years old. Love the many developmental scissor options available for my kids in their early years and my special needs students at school.

I gave my daughter experiences with scissors when she was 2.5. Now I engage my 3.5 year old grandson in scissor activities and have for about a year. I plan to do the same with my one year old grandson when he is a bit older. They both have great finger dexterity for their age. Thanks for the cutting ideas, love the creativity of them!

I let my kids cut at age two or three. They cut paper or play dough. I think it’s important to give them those skills at an early age because I know there are so many children who go to school never having used a scissors. It is so important to their fine motor skills.

I love cutting activities. We introduce scissors in a structured way around 3 years old. But whenever a child shows interest is the best time to start. We say a little poem… “Open , shut, open, shut, this is the way we make the scissors cut.” To keep correct hand position when cutting, we sometimes place a small sticker on the child’s thumb of their cutting hand. They are to see the sticker when cutting. Lots of little tips to help the experience be positive.
:)

I have not given my toddler a pair of scissors yet, but I think he is ready for it now! I want to try the state cutting and magazine cutting activities listed here! What excellent ideas!!! I am excited!!!

My daughter showed an interest in cutting at age 2.5. She uses a pair of Fiskars that were mine when I was in elementary school, and they’re still in perfect shape. She picked up cutting very easily. She is now 3.5 and has a pair on her desk that she can use any time she likes. She is very independent and safe with them. She loves cutting out small pictures. Her cutting skills amaze me and are better than many 5 year olds I know, because she is allowed to have so much practice.

All three of my girls love to cut things, and anything to do with arts & crafts. I was a bit hesitant to let my first child use scissors, but I started working with her by age three or four. But by kid #3 my youngest was using scissors as soon as she could understand to open and close her hand to make them work. She is almost three and a pro at making “confetti”!! She will spend hours just cutting paper into tiny pieces. And yes, those parents scared of the self-inflicted hair cuts…they do happen….but hair grows back and life goes on!! Fine motor skills are more important and a bit of missing hair at this young of an age :)

With my first son I avoided letting his use scissors because it made me nervous but then he struggled in pre-school with a few fine motor skills including scissor use. With my second I’ve already given him more chances, specifically with play-doh. Thank you for the awesome post with great ideas.

My kids were given the opportunity to cut at about age 3. As a 4K director in a public school district I’m shocked when kids have never cut before and parents say, “I would never give my child a scissors at home.”

My preschool is for 3- 5 year olds so we start exposing them right away. We start with tearing and then talk about how could we fo this easier. I bring our all sorts of things to cut, paper, leaves, yarn, cottonballs, foil, and of course we always talk about safety and things we should never cut. Almost everything we cut leads to some sort of other project, art, science, sewing, math, measuring. I love using the scissors that have shaped blades. Its awesome to watch them use their own ideas for what to cut out and make. We couldn’t live without them. Thank you! Bouse Elementary Preschool

I have done family childcare for over 20 years. I usually start my children around 2 yrs old, some a little sooner depending on their development. Thanks, would love to win the give away for my daycare.

I started cutting skills with my son at 4. I feel I should have started a little earlier with fine more skill activities just to get him ready to cut. Sometimes as homeschool moms we forget simple task such as cutting, tying shoes etc…. I teach a class at our homeschool group and I have been shocked to see how many kindergarteners haven’t ever picked up a pair of scissors.
Merry Christmas!

I haven’t made the time to let my 2.5 year old cut with scissors at home yet. They started at his old daycare at 2, but it closed a few months ago, and I’m sure his new daycare doesn’t have the same policy. But we’re going to break out the playdough after Christmas and give it a go!

We are just getting ready to start cutting. My granddaughter is showing a lot of interest in using scissors. I want to teach her the correct way right from the beginning . This website will be a great resource.

My 2 1/2 year old picked up a pair of her sisters scissors and just started cutting! haha. But I have since decided on fun ways to let her cut. She loves cutting snowflakes right now for Christmas and because she loves painting too they get a little color…and lots of glitter, glitter is big at our house!

I teach a weekly early childhood program at the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, AR. I give the kids opportunities to use scissors as often as possible. We incorporated scissors into the program last week and will again next week!

We homeschool…around the table I have 2 1 1/2 year old twins, 2 3 1/2 year olds and a 6 year old. When Jayden is cutting so are the others…not scared to try anything. Love seeing their faces when they cut through paper, straws etc. Busy at our house..messes everywhere but lots of hands on time with Nana. The 2 sets of twins love coming to my house to have school. We are learning alot and making lasting memories that will last a lifetime. One of the youngest twins has Noonan’s Syndrome and had a stroke when he was 3 months old. He needs alot of hands on motor skill help but is doing great! I believe that you do not treat them differently…he is way above what the drs. said he would ever do…

I absolutely love these activities. As a teacher of students with many fine motor skills it gives a wide variety of ways that they can practice their cutting skills. I really love the cutting the grass/cutting nature activity.

I started my daughter at 2.5 with her first playdough set of scissors. By the time she was 3 I gave her a toddler pair to start cutting paper. At 5 years of age now, she LOVES to cut! She is really starting to show her creativity with cutting shapes and making little accessories for her dolls and their houses. My son started at 3 and is still finding it a bit challenging to cut paper, but we keep practicing! Thanks for your post. I like the straw idea!

What great ideas! I usually start teaching my kids how to cut when they’re 4, but maybe I’ll start earlier with some of these activities! I’m still going to keep the scissors on the top shelf though, we’ve had too many bad haircuts ?

I’m a pediatric OT. I see many children who are 4-5 years old and have never held scissors. It is important to start early. Supervision is the key. I began scissor use with my children at age 2. The ideas listed in this post are wonderful starting points for scissor use.
Also, if you’re nervous about giving scissor to a small child start with squirt bottles, motorically it is the same motion.

We gave my son scissors around age three. I have always loved activities that hone fine motor skills and he loves cutting things. Grass, paper, playdoh, foods when he helps in the kitchen. He’s in kindergarten now and I can really see how it has helped his hand eye coordination. And he can cut some pretty awesome shapes for crafts in art projects!!!

I run a home daycare so I work with all ages. The kids are exposed to cutting and sissors at a young age si they take interest pretty early. Our goal is to get them practicing when they are able to understand the safety instructions that go along with using sissors. For most this is around 2 1/2 to 3.

Even though, God didn’t bless me with children. I feel that I have many children. I work with kids at church fr over
30 years. Due to back issues, I am only able to teach the 3 year old Sunday School class. I love Jesus and am a born again believer. Enough about me, to answer your question about letting kids cut with scissors. Sometimes, I take scissors (kid safety , of course) paper is provided blank or patterned, or an activity page with lines to cut. The kids
really like to cut. Some of them, have ever used scissors at home.

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus.
Miss Debbie
I will be out of the office until 12/20/16.

My granddaughter is 15 mos. old and your website has given me many ideas to try. The tip about putting the ribbon in a bottle is a good one. I used cotton balls , easy and a good one for church when we want to be quiet but busy. It is not an activity for a child left alone with as they might put them in their mouth. I always look for opportunities to introduce things as she becomes more ready. Wish had a website like this to go to when my children were small. Thank you so much.

As a mother, aunt, and now grandmother, I have enjoyed the sheer joy, determination and success of a plethora of children as they master the skill of cutting. I have always had a variety of various types of scissors on hand and am very happy to report that over the past 41 years, no one has succumbed to the temptation to perform a self administered haircut. There have always been many things to cut, age appropriately of course, from food, to magazines, etc. Have always kept safety scissors in my kitchen drawer and the children have learned to grab these when the need to cut something open. The kids turn to scissors to cut open everything from granola bars to crackers and even the very young ones seem to enjoy this independence to do so.

I am a grandma that helps take care of my grandson who just turned 2 in October.
We do lots of things together, but I have not introduced scissors to him yet.
The Friskars scissors sound wonderful and if I don’t win I will ask Santa to leave a pair in his stocking.
Wish me luck

Scissors in the sensory table with material added each day has always been a go to for kiddos learning how to use scissors. I start the first few days with foam sheets, paper, card stock… using the observation-assessment cycle, I add materials according to skill level and change out types of scissors. Everyone can find both success and challenge while working together. We save the scraps for collage or eventually add water to the bin of varied clippings to see what sinks and floats. When interest in the sink/float exploration ends we put the sensory bin outside, let if freeze and then excavate the snips of paper , pieces of foam, straws, etc out using toothbrushes, Popsicle sticks, and a salt/ sand combo.

Such fun and conducive to talking, building relationships and scaffolding learning. It’s the child version of the water cooler.

Good morning! My 5 year started cutting when he was about 3. My 2 year old is about to turn 3 next month, and he’s had SOME cutting practice, but he gets frustrated when he can’t control his hand enough. He’ll definitely be doing more cutting exercises while he’s 3. :)

I start using sisors with my kiddos around 2 years. We use kid sisors and just have fun. Then as you see improvement I ask them to start following lines. It’s funny, my second learned how to cut because I was the box top collector for our school and they had to be trimmed. We would sit and trim them together.

I start using sisors with my kiddos around 2 years. We use kid sisors and just have fun. Then as you see improvement I ask them to start following lines. It’s funny, my second learned how to cut because I was the box top collector for our school and they had to be trimmed. We would sit and trim them together.

I start using sisors with my kiddos around 2 years. We use kid sisors and just have fun. Then as you see improvement I ask them to start following lines. It’s funny, my second learned how to cut because I was the box top collector for our school and they had to be trimmed. We would sit and trim them together.

I started all three of my children cutting at an early age, between 2 and 3. It is so important to show them how to use scissors. We cut food, playdough, fabric, and of course paper! Now I think it backfired on me a bit when my son started using scissors to cut things he wasn’t supposed to cut – his rug, his comforter, his clothes, etc. But it gave us an opportunity to have another conversation about WHAT it’s okay to cut and WHEN!

My 2.5 year old started cutting about a year ago, I started with foam sheets but decided straws worked better. He can cut paper now, but still hasn’t got the hang of anything accurate. He loves to cut!

My daughter LOVES cutting! She will sit for an hour or more sometimes and cut paper into little tiny pieces that then become “tickets” or “sprinkles” or whatever her imaginatin is into that particular day. She is three and a half now, and I first introduced scissors when she was about one and a half, starting earlier than you think is definitely a good strategy for learning to use scissors! She can hold the scissors correctly, cut large circles and straight lines and really stays very close to the line these days. Mostly she just loves to play with cutting, I think noodles and play doh are next for sure!

We started with scissors at Barnes and Noble’s story time. I then got my oldest her own scissors and have been bringing it out to make all our holiday crafts each season. She even helped me wrap some presents last week and then used some left over scraps to make confetti and practice writing her name.

I also made the mistake of sending my firstborn to preschool without allowing him to use scissors at home. I quickly learned that this made his first few months more of a challenge than was necessary. My biggest holdup was a combination of new Mom fear, and not being able to find scissors that felt safe for him to try. I discovered Fiskars for my second child, and she started when she was about 2. She was well prepared for school! Fast forward 9 years, and believing that I would have no more children and surprise! My third child was born, and I continue to allow her freedom of exploration with Fiskars because I trust their products.

I believe teaching children to use scissors is very important. Scissors can be to benefit or disaster. If given the proper skills in using scissors not only do they build motor skills but being a responsible young person. Being able to work with scissors on daily basis can contribute for life experiences . There could be good experiences and bad. They can be used for emergencies. I too teach small people the use of scissors. So let’s see how many good things we can use scissors and give children the same chance .

I encourage my boys to cut with scissors at young age. i gave them paper and they went to town, It was messy and they developed their fine motor skills. We make paper snowflakes each year. They love it.

I was a nanny for years and years. I would get small children’s scissors and when whenever we did crafts I put out scissors. Some children were immediately drawn to them and enjoyed cutting things. Other’s tried scissors but had a hard time, so asked for assistance. I think using scissors is a great motor skill so the sooner they have access the better!

My daughter starting showing interest in scissors around 2 1/2 yrs old. She’s my first child and I thought maybe she was too young but she was continuously adimant about using my scissors so I finally bought her a pair. Even though she doesn’t cut on the lines she still treats cutting like she’s doing a very important job. I’m glad I did not withhold this learning tool from her.

I started cutting with my kids when they were two years old. I made sure to get them scissors appropriate for their size/age and then I let them go at it. Just cutting papers in any way. Practicing holding the scissors correctly. Their were so many random pieces of paper all over my house. But I loved watching them try to cut. Sometimes it was frustrating for them and sometimes they loved it and wanted more. As they grew we developed new skills by working on straight lines, curvey lines, lines with different angles and they were cutting out their own projects. It was a great experience.

Started my girls at age 2 with the Fiskars toddler scissors. We also tried scissors at the library, but with twins I did not leave them out to explore on their own since mayhem can ensue. We have regularly been using safety scissors since about 3 1/2.

I am a first year teacher and my children are special needs. I have been working with them since school started in August. We have made snowflakes and paper Christmas ornaments for their parents. I would really love to win this for my class. We are out of supplies since hurricane Matthew came through. Thank you for this chance.
Sincerely,
Roseanne Locklear EC Teacher
Rosenwald Elementary, Fairmont, NC

My oldest started cutting late, around 4, or even later, my middle one right at 3, and only with encouragement from his craft instructor at community centre. I believe he still remembers that craft class as big gulp of freedom: that was first activity without parents participation and right away he started doing previously no- no activities( cutting with scissors!!!)- no wonder, he never had separation anxiety unlike other kids in his group.
With my youngest I was already equipped with playdough and safe scissors, and, most important, knowledge that cutting IS for small kids, so we started with playdough at 2.3 quickly moving to paper . So far , I see that my youngest fine motor skills are the best out of three, however, I don’t know if it because of cutting or cutting happened because he had better ability than his siblings….

My daughter (just turned 5) loves to cut anything. The first time I gave her scissors was about a year ago. She thought she was so grown up. She made a paper chain this year. But her favorite thing to do is to cut squares and make little notes for her family members.

I think it depends on the child. My first was able to handle them by age 3. My second one I didn’t trust enough for that, I don’t think he had a pair of scissors in his hand till age 6. Then I had to take them back from him because he was cutting up my dresses to make blankets for his sisters dolls. Trust is the ultimate clue in this decision.

I remember having the same experience when sending my oldest to preschool for the first time at 4 yrs old. I had never thought to put scissors in her had at 3 years old!! So when the next kiddo came around, I started at 3!

The first time one of my children used scissors was around the age of three. We would use scissors to cut play dough, leaves and grass. We started out on simple things before we attempted to cut paper. My youngest daughter loves to help me cut papers out for my class. She loves to use scissors for everything that can but cut .

I started my daughter around 2. It’s important to note that development of cutting skills starts earlier than that through weight bearing, crossing midline and using both sides of the body. As an occupational therapist I worked with my daughter and the kiddos I work with at tearing paper, lacing beads, cutting play-dough, etc early on before cutting paper. I used plastic scissors as well as loop scissors and then graduated to spring loaded scissors. We also put a piece of paper with a smiley face on it as a reminder to keep the scissors in the correct position.

If I didn’t read Hands On, I wouldn’t have considered introducing my 2-year-old granddaughter to “cutting”. I gave her a small pair of childproof cutting scissors, and she did great! While her fingers are still trying to coordinate, she made little cuts all around a piece of construction paper! Love your website. :)

As an occupational therapist I started my daughter cutting fairly early…right around 2 years, but the development of her skills started way earlier than that. We worked on two handed activities such as tearing paper, crossing midline as soon as she was sitting up. Tummy time is so incredibly important as well as well as weight bearing through the hands. We started with loop scissors to get the concept of opening and closing the scissors and then graduated to spring loaded scissors. We had so much fun with seasonal activities and just cutting random other items such as play-dough, coupons and even grass.

My son started cutting at 2.5 and loved chopping pieces of construction paper. He had to hold them with both hands to open and close at first so it was so adorable to see his little gears turning as he tried to figure out how to stabilize the paper and cut at the same time.

I have four children and all but the last one has learned to use scissors. She just turned 3 so I plan to start out small here after the holiday craziness is over. In a class of four and five year olds that I tutor once a week I’ve been including some cutting exercises. And it’s been a joy to watch them grow in confidence over the beginning of the year when they struggled and didn’t want to do it. Now they look forward to the time where I have a cutting exercise and can’t wait to show me how well they did. Makes me feel proud that I’ve been able to be a part of building up their confidence in themselves.

This post is right on time for me. My daughter (2.5 years old) has just started showing an interest in scissors and wanting to cut. Since she stays home with me every day, I had no clue where to start or what to do or if it’s even safe for her. Thank you so much for the ideas and the chance to enter the giveaway.
Many thanks,
-Marilyn

I started my son with scissors very occasionally around age 2 and a half. He just turned 4 and we regularly do cutting activities at home for him to practice! Helps me with coupons or cuts out his own drawings!

My children have all cut play dough with “real” scissors when they were 1 1/2 or so … once we really got into play dough. It always started with using them with 2 hands and then gradually they got the hang of it!

Over the years I’ve kept holiday cards we’ve received and my sons love cutting out faces and images from the cards to make collages. Great for fine motor skill development and repurposing these precious memories!

When did you give, or have you given, your child a chance to start cutting?

For my 4 year old, we started practicing with scissors after she turned 3 years old. However, her younger sister wants to do everything that big sis does, so we’ve already started practicing cutting with her at age 2 1/2. She’s doing well with it!

I was so nervous the first time I let my two year old use scissors for the first time. They were kids scissors and still it made me nervous. I let him cut up rolls of play dough and he had a ball. He’s now three and I admit, I stl do not use them as much as I should but I do know that he is very capable and just waiting for his mom to lighten up. These activities hopefully will help me get into cutting more with him! Thank you.

I started both my kids cutting at the first sign they were interested. For my eldest, it was at 2. For my second, who saw his sister cutting everyday, it was before his second birthday. I’m a preschool teacher so I knew all the tricks to help them learn how to use scissors as well as fun ways to practice. I stressed scissor safety for the first couple of weeks and never had much of an issue with it. My son did end up cutting a few things he shouldn’t have (his shirt and dolls hair) but he stopped when I took the scissor away for the week. My kiddos have had free access to scissors basically since they were 2 and have amazing cutting skills now at ages 4 and 7. It really is an important skill to have esp when entering Kindergarten.

My 4 1/2 year old started around 3 years old when he started a new daycare with a structured setting. They would always do fun projects. I’ve been able to be a stay at home mommy since March and we’ve worked more with scissors too. We love doing crafts together and I love seeing him learn new things!

My 4 yo loves to cut! Anything he can get his hands/scissors on so naturally the 2 yo also wants in on the action! I’ve been surprised what an engaging activity cutting practice is but I’m on board now. Great fine motor practice and they love it!

I have twins. My daughter has fine motor delays. We started cutting in OT when she was 3. It’should still a struggle, byt she’s improved a ton! My son probably started at 3.5. I was surprised how fast he caught on! They really do love it!

I started my boys at around 2 years old, cutting with plastic scissors to use for clay, from Lakeshore learning. They love cutting things and we always try to work on thumbs up, but just to see them with their tongue have sticking out while they cut, is enough for me to know they are being challenged in a new activity and to step back a bit and let them explore this new skill.

My little guy is 2 (October baby), and wants to do everything his big (8 year old) sister does. He started using scissors within the last few months, first the plastic playdoh type; then tried cutting pieces of paper and tape with safety scissors last week. I think he wanted to help wrap Christmas gifts!

I started my daughter at about 3yrs old and she’s 4 now. I didn’t think she would be old enough to cut but I found this site and realized I should get her started early and I’m glad I did! I started my son at just over 2 with some bunny kid safe scissors. He loved to just cut up pieces of paper. I didn’t realize how much kids just love to cut! Doesn’t have to be a reason for it just give them some scrap paper and off they go and we make a game out of cleaning up the pieces of paper on the floor. We try to find shapes in the paper and put it in different shape bags like square in one baggy and triangles in another and so on. Helps me with clean up and it’s fun for them. :-) I’ve really appreciated HOAWG site for all the advice and encouragement to start things early. I feel like my daughter is much more advanced for her age compared to some of the others in her pre-K class.

I teach Early Childhood Family Education and every time we meet we have a few different cutting activities. We cut playdough, paper strips and then cutting on lines. We also give tips to parents on activities that they can do to help their child improve on their cutting skills.

Love this article, my kids whom range from 12 months to 36 months have been doing some cutting with thtese great plastic scissors we have! They cut paper and other objects just like metal ones but not skin clothes or fingers!

I let our girls (ages 8 and 5) start cutting when they were about 2 with scissors just like these. Cutting paper was a favorite. I would cut paper into long strips and they would cut “tickets” with them. Sometimes my younger daughter will cut her own designs now. Fortunately we haven’t had the hair cutting experiment happen at our house yet! :)

My child watched as I use scissors often – special craft scissors, special scissors for herb cutting, special scissors for sewing so naturally, he wanted some ‘special’ scissors of his own to use. He was three when I started him off and he now owns his own “special” scissors!

I was nervous about my second daughter using scissors after my first daughter cut her hair (more like hacked it all off!) My second daughter,Josie, ended up being left handed-unlike my husband and I. It has been very difficult to help her learn to use scissors, even now that she is 6, because her fine motor skills are not up to par and i have a hard time trying to teach her to cut with her left hand- it’s more difficult than I thought it would be finding scissors that accommodate her. The ideas in this post are wonderful! She will love trying to cut spaghetti and the grass! And I will definitely be using these ideas for my other two younger children! Thank you!

As a pediatric OT working with preschoolers I give a child a chance to cut with scissors as soon as I start working with them. I too love the Fiskars scissors and will almost always use them. The only other scissors I use are a pair of very tiny scissors for my kids with really tiny hands. I usually start them with index cards or paint color strips because you need less ability to stabilize them, then construction paper and then finally white paper. Other media like straws and play doh are fun along the way. Once they are successful my kids love to cut. I love your website for new ideas when I get tired of mine :) Thanks for the nature idea!

I bought my little one safety scissors at 2 1/2 yr old when she wanted to help out decorations with the big scissors. I showed her how to cut with those at the time but now cutting out Christmas decorations she can help safely.

Working with my children on cutting still and these are great ideas to try! I have let them start with hand-over-hand help around 18 months. I allow them to try by themselves and continue to help until they may need it.

I have twin two-year-old daughters and we actually just started cutting with scissors this month! They were watching me cut out some paper snowflakes when they started chanting “cut! Cut!” I let them try and cut some paper but they weren’t able to cut through it very well. I’m not sure if it was the scissors I was using or their grip. That’s when we pulled out the homemade dough and started carving shapes and “cutting” the dough.

Henry started cutting when he was 3. We started with paper. Because he had little control we make confetti. It can be used for many things but we used it as ground cover for a picture. As he practiced, he did longer strips so we make a chain for the decoration such as the holiday tree.

I own a Home child Care and I usually start working with my kids at age 2 with many things and cutting is one of them. There have been a lot of children in my care who have never touched a pair of scissors or crayons, etc. I love hands on and I feel that is the best way to learn- through their own experiences.

My first born was cutting at about 20 months as we were in the process of getting to know the 6-year-old boy whom we adopted and some of our activities involved cutting. My youngest son was 2-21/2 before he wanted to pick up scissors. My grandchildren were introduced to scissors at about 18 mos. They are now 11, 5, and 2 1/2. The youngest still cuts with a pair of the rounded Fiskar scissors left over from the dozen I bought in 1986 because the scissors in the Sunday School didn’t cut well. I use a pair of them in my sewing bag because they don’t poke holes through it like my sewing Fiskars are apt to do with their pointed design. I won’t buy any scissors but Fiskars for my grandchildren or myself. My 5-year-old granddaughter graduated to pointed Fiskar primary scissors and uses them on paper and on fabric when making clothes for her doll. I like the youth scissors for older children because of the longer blade, which they can handle, yet it is not too long and awkward like adult scissors. The handles are also fitted to their hand.

My oldest is 26 months and the only scissors she’s had practice with are the play doh ones! She’s gotten better with those so I was thinking of giving her the real deal soon. Not going to lie, it scares me to death but she has to learn sometime. I think the play doh scissors were a great beginner experience but it’s time for a step up.

My oldest is 26 months and the only scissors she’s had practice with are the play doh ones! She’s gotten better with those so I was thinking of giving her the real deal soon. Not going to lie, it scares me to death but she has to learn sometime. I think the play doh scissors were a great beginner experience but it’s time for a step up.

I teach kindergarten and have scissors with fingerholes for the adults as well as for the child. With these scissors, I started cutting with all the children in my family at age 2. They were thrilled to be using scissors like the “big kids”. And, I know, all their kindergarten teachers were appreciative of the cutting skills they had acquired before they started school.

Our children start at about 3 years of age. They start by tearing paper into small pieces. They then begin snipping everything from playdough and grass to making fringe on a piece of paper taped to the table.

We have little scissors and plastic scissors for 2-3 year old kiddos. They love cutting just to make cuts in a piece of paper if nothing else. I love some of these ideas though! We have more fun things to do with scissors! I’d love to try a pair of the spring open ones you talked about…that’ll be on the list for my next adventure to the school aisle!

I can’t remember exactly when I started my boys cutting, but I think it was around three years old. My youngest is four and my oldest is eight and both of them love cutting things out and using scissors.

I love the versatility of activities to use scissors for! I’ve also seen a big difference in using Fiskar scissors versus the other brands. They work so much better and are easier for the children to handle.

My son has been fascinated with cutting ever since I first let him have scissors. I can’t remember when exactly, but it was a little before he was three. I gave him punches first, and he loved those, too. He loves to cut non-paper things. Straws were a favorite for a long time, and I am totally going to turn him into our little weed eater. He’d love it. Such a good idea!

I let my son use scissors when he was 2yrs old. We cut straws and made necklaces or watched them fly across the room. He also gets a kick out of cutting Playdouh. His now 3.5 and still cutting away. I give hi a chance every time he is in his artsy mood. Recently we cut little strips for the Activity Room activity ….”Christmas paper chain” and he did amazing!!

We started after watching her try at church – I forget what age, maybe a year? Today, at 3.5 I let her open a new roll of wrapping paper and cut squares for two presents, then cut all the way across to free a large piece – which she immediately took and started jumping up and down on!

I have been a child care provider for over 18 years. Only recently did I see an article about cutting Play-doh with scissors and I’ve had my 2 year olds cutting with scissors already! My older children love cutting it as well……good practice and it’s fun!!

Hey! My daughter is not quite 2so I have not given her a chance with scissors yet. I think I’m going to wait awhile longer, and at first it will be guided by me while she’s holding them until she understand what the are for.

The first time I gave our baby (our 7th child) scissors was at 22 months. He LOVES them. Any package that needs open he asks for his frog scissors. Sister’s are pink and his are green frogs. We have a combined family. My children ages 33, 30 and 28. My husband’s children ages 25 and 21 and then the 2 little ones that we adopted are 5 and 2.

I let my first start cutting at 19 months, inspired primarily by the ideas I found here. It went beautifully (although I was always closely supervising the first several months). My second is now 13 months and we’re letting her handle the scissors– again under close supervision. It will obviously be a few months yet before she actually figures out the cutting motion, of course. Love the reminders on other things to cut besides paper!

When did you give, or have you given, your child a chance to start cutting?
– Our oldest daughter (now 2.5) first began using those all-plastic kiddo scissors when she was 17-months. There is this great ECFE program in our previous home that puts out scissors with play-dough to cut. More recently I let her help me cut 1/2″ strips off the tops of my #2 coffe filters for her to get a feel for what cutting paper feels like and so I can have my single-cup of coffee; both parties satisfied!

I haven’t started with my daughter yet, but I just learned that she has used scissors already in her preschool, so I just bought a pair for her and we’re going to start tomorrow! Thanks for all these great ideas for other items to cut too (not just paper!)

I start letting my kids cut with scissors when they turn 3. Both my 5 and 3 yo love using scissors. Neither of them are super crafty (might be a boy thing?!), and often hesitate to do art type projects, but I can usually get them to use scissors!

Last week I made a Christmas activity jar – I cut strips of paper, wrote activities on them, and put them in a jar. My two year old was watching. I gave her a pair of scissors and her own paper. She loved it! She’s been cutting almost every day since. She recently found a piece of foam paper and is working on cutting that now. Also my four year old has been cutting wrapping paper and wrapping up her toys and putting them under the Christmas tree ?

LOVE these ideas!! My 3 1/2 year old has just discovered scissors and she would like to use them all the time. Previously we have only cut paper, but now I am going to try some of these great ideas. Thank you for sharing!

Just a couple week ago I gave my almost 3 year old twins a couple pair of scissors, some glue sticks, and a stack of paper, and stepped away and let them explore. They absolutely loved it! I enjoyed watching the facial expressions as they were so intently working on their art masterpieces ;)

I love the ideas! My charges are 2 1/2 & 4 and I allowed them to start using safety scissors at 2. We practice how to hold, use, and cut with scissors using play dough, various types of paper (including printed patterns, pictures, etc.), pipe cleaners, straws, etc. We haven’t used scissors to cut food, but it is a good idea and is common in countries outside of the U.S. (i.e. Vietnam). I will try cutting spaghetti next week. Thank you!!!

My son was interested around or before his 2nd birthday in using scissors. He was advanced in fine motor skills and so I let him use scissors on special supervised occasions. He would cut and cut and cut. He loved it because it was hard for him and different and because he could see how he was affecting the paper. I love your idea of nature cutting. My son now loves to use my yard clippers which I rarely let him use at 3 but the scissors would be a great idea. Thanks for sharing.

I would give my child “scissors” as soon as they could hold them. I would start with play dough scissors so that they can learn to safely hold and use scissors. Then I would move on to safety scissors and watch them very closely. I feel that by doing this my child could gain a lot of confidence with scissors early. Then when they need to use scissors in school, they already have some practice.

I introduces cutting to my daughter around 2 years old, and now as a five year old she will use every opportunity to use the scissors. My son however has been a little behind and hasn’t been able to understand scissors until about month ago, and he’s four.

We got toddler scissors for my son when he was about 2.5 years old, and he loved just cutting up scraps of paper. We’ve done a little cutting out designs (he’s 3.5 now), but mostly he just loves to cut up paper into little pieces, and can entertain himself for about 20 minutes or so doing that. We haven’t tried cutting other materials, so we will have to try that too.

I babysit my 2 grand boys, age 2 and 4. They usually cut paper, but enjoy cutting ribbon. They cut up old Christmas wrapping paper which we use to collage a tissue box. Then they glue on their ribbon cuttings. They are waiting for letters from Santa!

I love this post about cutting and scissors. It’s very in depth, and is a great tool for those of us who have the privilege of introducing children to cutting. We actually have 3 types of scissors made by Fiskars. I am not a certified teacher, but I teach pre k at a daycare. We don’t have a core curriculum, so I always use this site as a resource. Thank you Hands on as we grow, Jamie, for making activities so simple and easy to complete!

Around maybe 2 1/2 I think, I was reluctant but it’s been super safe, except for the time he wanted to trim a tree outside, did so much cutting on branches he got blisters on his hand. Other than that – loves cutting everything!!

I was terrified of scissors! I have twins, and I just knew something terrible would happen if I gave them scissors. I first introduced scissors at our local library’s storytime. I figured there were plenty of other adults present, and my kids would have no idea that we have scissors at home, too. We were able to build some skill and work on safety rules in a neutral environment.

I let my daughter start cutting when she was a little over 3 because she started asking to every time I was cutting something. Finally we were at office Depot and she saw a little pink pair she had to have. She loves to stand over the trash can and cut up a piece of papper.

I waited pretty long to let my older son start cutting, probably around 4, and he found it frustrating and difficult when he wasn’t up to par in pre-school . He’s 7 and still doesn’t like cutting activities. My second is 2 years old now and I started her on play-doh and I think it’s great that she is getting used to it with no pressure. Still scared to give her real scissors though.

Hi! I would love a chance to win the Fiskars box! My son is 2.5 and I started working with him on cutting right about the time he turned 2. We started with play dough and strings of beads. But I have been frustrated with the kids scissors that I have purchased, so would like to try the Fiskars!

We start cutting at age 3yrs love the grass idea will have to try that in warmer weather. We have done the TP roll put a face on it lower on the roll and then give it a hair cut, we also do cutting sheets another one of my favorites is letting them cut up the junk mail. Thanks for drawing opportunity :)

My oldest son started cutting at age three and my younger twins, after seeing big brother, started cutting (with supervision) around 18 months. We mostly cut paper but love the ideas here to practice on playdoh and even food!

I first let my daughter use scissors (at home) right when she started preschool, age 3. She’s in daycare as well, so she gets a lot of exposure. I keep the scissors up where she can’t reach. She has to ask for them or when we do craft time, I’ll get them out. (With a one year old brother around, were extra careful, and I closely monitor).

I began practicing scissor skills with my daughter when she was two. We started with small plastic scissors and play dough. She’s 4 now and she loves to do anything that involves getting to use her own scissors.

I began allowing my kids to cut around age 3, although my youngest attempts to use scissors at age 2. The play dough cutting was one of the first things we did, as well as cutting tissue paper and wrapping paper because they’re so easy to cut through.

I actually found this post when ds was about 18 months old, and started him off with a pair of safety scissors cutting straws. He took to it quickly & loved snipping paper and leaves. Now at 3, he can cut in straight lines and is starting to learn to cut shapes. Thanks for all of your great posts, I use your activities all the time!

My daughter started using scissor to cut homemade playdough at 2. My son, 1 1/2, is fascinated with scissors. We tried cutting dough with lots of hands on help but his fine motor skills needs a little more time developing.

I started my littlest one recently using scissors, she did much better than I expected. Just barely three and she can nearly follow simple straight lines. She prefers cutting to tearing. Now working with shapes like squares and triangles and practice cutting them.

I started teaching my child cutting when she became around 2 and a half, she is always near me when I am crafting and started to show interest, so I bought a pair of plastic scissors first to help her learn and then this year gave her the metal ones to try out. At 3 she is a crafty little girl who enjoys creating things^^

My two-year-old is cutting pretty well on her own already. She loves to cut through old catalog pages and construction paper. I have a pair of Melissa and Doug safety scissors that she mostly uses, but occasionally she also uses blunt-edged Fiskars when I can watch her more closely. I don’t remember when she started using them exactly. She showed an early interest because of her two older siblings (4 and 7 years old).

My twins will turn three right after Christmas and still didn’t experience cutting with scissors. I am planning on organizing some cutting activities in the next few days and see how they like it. They love art and craft so much it is easy to please them.
Thank you for your always – oh! so inspiring – website and emails!

My daughter just turned 2 years old, and I just started considering letting her use scissors. I think in a couple months we’ll give it a shot! I think she’d really like the ideas in your post, especially cutting grass.

My little one loves it when we do cutting activities. I introduced scissors at 2.5 and she is doing pretty well now at age 3 we are still working on control but play doh is by far her favorite thing to cut.

My daughter just turned 2 and I have her a scissors and she did pretty well for her age I though but she had great fine motor skills. I would love the chance to do more activities with her with these supplies.

I did precutting activities with my son when he between 1 and 2 years old because he loved tools. Neil loved to try to pick up all sorts of objects with the metal tongs, plastic salad tongs that looked like a spoon and a fork, etc. Evidently he liked to play with various sizes of tweezers. He also used paper punches with paper and various garden tools to dig with in the dirt. The first things that he cut with scissors were cooked spaghetti and playdough. When he did use scirssors and papers I gave him thin strips of cardstock to snip.

My daughter (now 4) started cutting in school around 2 years old. She now cuts intricate dolls, snowflakes and freeform designs and her teacher is amazed at skills. My son (now 2) has almost always had access to children’s scissors and has recently begun to LOVE cutting paper into tiny pieces. We’ve never had any improper cutting incidents or dangerous use because they have always known the rules and have access to them!

I haven’t tried cutting yet, with my almost 3 year old twin girls. Sounds like we should start soon. I’m just nervous about trying to supervise two at once. But maybe they can take turns? We’ll be trying the playdough cutting and the straw cutting to make a necklace.

I gave my oldest scissors at 3 because he was really interested when I used them. He has cut all types of oaoer, playdough, and cardboard (toilet paper rolls). My 2 yr old now uses scissors as well to cut paper. She is supervised closely but my now 4 yr old has more freedom as long as he follows the safety rules.

I introduced scissors to both my son’s at the same time (ages 4.5 and just barely turned 3) by having them cut yarn. My 3yo loved it and cut yarn every day for weeks. Now they’re both cutting snowflakes like crazy. Their goal is to make a snowflake garland for each of their aunts, grandmas, great grandma, and teachers!

The first time I let my 3 year old granddaughter play with scissors, she loved it so much, she cut everything in sight (comics, color ads and the list goes on!!!) Good thing he house cannot be cut with scissors or she might have ended up homeless! :) But I cannot wait to show her how to cut playdough…what a fun idea!!! (I am just a big kid myself, what can I say? :)

I work with special needs students at the high school level. Yes, your newsletter is perfect for alot of the fine motor activities that we do. We practice cutting skills alot. Even with those those that have the knowledge of cutting, but can’t do it, we do hand over hand, just so they can experience it!

I found some great kids scissors at a yard sale that are spring loaded to help with the opening and closing feature. My son began using them at age 2 with paper. I would draw different line patterns and have him try to follow them. I love the idea of nature cutting, on our way to the park now and I plan to pack some scissors!

I didn’t start letting my Four year old start cutting until he was almost four. I really should have done it sooner. He now struggles with scissors when we have an activity to do which requires cutting. I am beginning to expose my two year old to them now.

I let my son start experimenting with toddler scissors shortly after he turned two. First with Christmas catalogs and then again with the wrapping paper. We have done more as he has aged and now at almost 3 he’s starting to learn to cut with purpose instead of just the motions.

The first time I gave my daughter a chance to start cutting was when she was 3 years old. But you are so right when you say it is a scary thing!! I was so afraid that she was going to cut herself that I gave up. :( But honestly, after reading your suggestions I feel like I just didn’t really have a clear understanding of how to proceed properly, or where to start, and that is what caused my anxiety for her safety to be escalated. Now that she is 4 years old I want to revisit this with her. I’ve made sure to save this page and I’m more confident now we will succeed. Thanks for another great post!

My daughter is only 2.5, so I’m not sure she would be up for it yet. She is starting preschool next month, and scissors are on her supply list. This post has me thinking I might introduce her to the idea

Hi Jamie,
I teach preschool and have two sons of my own. One of our favorite activities is going outside in the warmer months and cutting grass with children’s scissors. Kids love to cut and then they make nests, piles, walls, etc. out of grass. We also cut our own holiday cards and decorations, and love cutting play dough!
Thanks.
Amanda

You’re suggesting are perfect! As soon as my little ones show interest, which is sometimes as early as 2.5, I let them use the play dough scissors (no sharp edges at all) and then move on to using kid scissors on magazine pages, paper, just about anything they can cut! I have 8 children ranging from 3 months to 16 years. I think being aware and giving them opportunity to cut along with being an example (big siblings are awesome at this ), you can’t go wrong!!

You’re suggesting are perfect! As soon as my little ones show interest, which is sometimes as early as 2.5, I let them use the play dough scissors (no sharp edges at all) and then move on to using kid scissors on magazine pages, paper, just about anything they can cut! I have 8 children ranging from 3 months to 16 years. I think being aware and giving them opportunity to cut along with being an example (big siblings are awesome at this ), you can’t go wrong!!

Mine started around 2 and a half. She was very much into coloring and art type activities so it kind of just stemmed from that!! Keeping those little hands busy!! And now that they have such amazing kids scissors it made me feel Ok to allow it that young!

I let my own children help me cut coupons to practice their cutting skills . My oldest started cutting around age three. I have taught Pre-K for 24 years and I request Fiskar scissors to be brought in their supplies. They are the best!

I bought my son who is 3 years old scissors after he started preschool and they started practicing with cutting. He asked me if I’d buy him some. When I saw it was a struggle, we got straws and cut those first. Now he can cut on a line across the paper!

I gave my 2 year old daughter store ads to cut up. At first she got frustrated and tried ripping the paper while holding the scissors, but eventually (with some help) she figured it out. She loves cutting and making projects. I am constantly reminding her that we only cut paper or things that Mommy gives her to cut. NOT her hair:)

My kids start cutting with safety scissors (the plastic ones) at age 2. When I feel confident that they can handle scissors responsibly with little supervision, I move them to “real” scissors (child sized scissors with blunted tips).

I taught Pre-K before I had my daughter, & I think cutting should start early to develop those hand muscles & fine motor skills! I would have started my daughter cutting at 2.5, but my husband made me wait until she was 3. I gave her her first pair of scissors for her third birthday & we have never looked back. We practiced scissor safety from the first day, & now it is totally natural to her to be safe with them. They are stored where she always has access to them. The basic rule we have about cutting is you have to get permission to cut. So far, there has never been a problem! The one issue we have had is she is left-handed & so some scissors are not made for her.

I allowed my kids to start cutting around age 5. In kindergarten, it’s on the school supply list, so that’s when I actually allowed my kids to use scissors. Now, that’s not to say some of them didn’t “find” them a bit earlier. We have pictures of my daughter with the funky bangs that are way to short or my son who loves straws and cutting them whenever he gets a chance. I can definitely see how they could handle them at a younger age.

When Leah was about 20 months we gave her a pair of safety scissors but we really let he go on her own (meaning without me holding the scissors too!) right close to 2 years old when she was able to understand that scissors are for paper or grass or whatever mommy says we can cut and not clothes, hair, furniture, ect…

We let our little guy have the opportunity to cut as soon as he could hold scissors even if it was with two hands! He’s 3 and has been cutting for almost 2 years. He’s just now getting a good handle on it but, its by far one of his favorite activities!!

I let my little one start cutting around 18 months. She would cut paper strips into smaller pieces. I then let her glue the pieces onto a sheet of paper to create a mosaic type art piece. I also let her cut play-doh.

My 3.5 y/o started learning at 2.5 and absolutely loves to cut! I am amazed by his concentration, focus, and attention while doing cutting activities. It is definitely a go-to when I’m trying to get dinner on the table!

I remember sharing scissors with my children when they were 2 years old. First cutting playdough and then “paper snips” as we called it. My kids filled envelopes full of paper snips. They were so proud of them, (thank goodness for junk mail envelopes).

Thanks for promoting cutting as this is a pre writing activity.
I like the scissors with the 2 wholes the same size…that allows for the correct finger placement.
The thumb and middle finger, the pointer finger is the steering finger, the 3 fingers used for pencil grip.
If taught early correctly the precision fingers get stronger and ready for writing.
I found the Mape scissors as great scissors, coming in lefty ones too.

I first introduced my LG to cutting (use of scissors) at the age of 2.5. She wasn’t much so interested; though, I did leave them out with paper, incase she would ever be interested. Now at the age of 3.5 she loves it!!! She’s a lefty, so it still takes a while to figure out the correct & comfortable grip.

We started our little off at age 3. He has great fine motor skills but if he didn’t I actually would’ve started him earlier to strengthen his fingers. He still needs help to cut straight lines but otherwise loves doing it himself. I like the idea of cutting grass and straws.

I started with my kids and grandkids at around 2 years old. Let them have old magazines to cut up. It didn’t seem like it took long for them to figure out how to hold the scissors and worked toward cutting on a line.

I think scissors are great but kids are so different as to when they understand how to use them safely. I have two boys who were not really ready to safely use them until 4. But my daughter handles them very well at 3.

Thank you for the useful information and resources. Children have an opportunity to start cutting as infants, if activities that involve fine motor development and skills are included (e.g., eye-hand coordination, strengthening hand muscles and core, etc). More specifically, when children show an interest, which is encouraged by having available materials and cutting tools as well as using them myself with children so they can see them in action. Children also see other children experimenting with and using scissors and other cutting tools.

I am a 1:1 para educator with a student who has down syndrome.She is eight years old but funtions at a 3 year old level. We had her start cutting last year. Boy was it a challenge! She had a hard time due to her fine motor skills, and gross motor skills. Also due to her being left handed we don’t always have the right scissors for a long time because she is rather strong and tends to break the scissors. However when she does cut she truly enjoys just snipping and snapping at the paper. It is a fun activity for her!

I have three children. Now ages 6, 4, and 3. They are very energetic and hands on. Cutting is one thing I was absolutely afraid to try with my son (the 6 year old) because of his wildness. However, around the age of 4 (I think it was), we decided to cut and paste paper just for fun. I had never seen my son so calm. He cut and cut for 45 minutes just as peaceful as can be! So, needless to say, we love crafts that include cutting at my house!

With my first-born, he didn’t start cutting paper until just before preschool at age 4. We may have helped him cut things for craft projects before that or let him do it with supervision but not often. With my second, he was cutting with blunt, child scissors by about 2.5 –big brother does it so it was very interesting! Now at age 3 he is getting the hang of where to put his fingers but it’s still a little confusing. We do probably 3 or 4 art projects a week and maybe one out of 6 or 8 involves scissors, just for context.

I want to say I’m the adventurous Mom who let her kids start practicing with scissors at 2 1/2 and now they are these amazing little cutters at 3 and 4 years old… But, I’m not, and I’m a bad liar? After reading your post I am adding these super fun cutting activities into our daily preK at home experience!!! We use scissors occasionally, but the first time I let my oldest use scissors was about 6 months ago when he turned 4. And it still makes me nervous! Maybe we are using the wrong scissors, and I know now we are definitely not doing the right activities to practice cutting skills so I am excited to start helping both of my older two to build those scissor using skills pronto!! As for my youngest he is going to start using scissors at a much younger age☺️ Thank you!!

It was a long time ago now, but we started snipping paper, then making paper chains for Christmas! Then we grew “grass hair” on top of heads made out of old stockings stuffed with something…I forget…that we placed grass seed on and watered regularly (our version of a chia head). It was fun giving those heads “haircuts” when the grass seed grew!!!!

When did you give, or have you given, your child a chance to start cutting?

My daughter (just turned 5) started using scissors when she was two. We started with Play doh and straws. She has access to her scissors whenever she wants to cut. Thankfully, after showing her what they are used for, we’ve never had an issue with her cutting her hair! :)

I gave my children a chance to start cutting around the age of 3. The problem was once they started they didn’t want to stop so my son decided my daughter needed a haircut. There was a whole other lesson after that.

Thank you for all the great ideas! My favorite is cutting in nature, as I my son and I both enjoy being outdoors, this will be fantastic. I introduced scissors just recently, when my son was around 2.5. We started with playdough, as the scissors are all plastic, and it seemed low-stress for both of us. We are now venturing into paper, but I can’t wait to introduce more things over the holiday break. :) Thank you for supporting parents in this way!

I recently let my almost 2 year old use a pair of safety scissors since I was cutting activities for us and he LOVES to do whatever I am doing!! I figured out after a few minutes that they were not made to cut paper so we got out some play dough. He had a great time but quickly lost interest in the scissors since his little hands aren’t quite big enough to use them :-)

My poor oldest didn’t get scissors until K3 Montessori. But my middle kid at early 2 has now had the chance and loves it. He helped me cut flowers and veggies this summer and now paper inside. There was a book call Yes Yes No No that has a page about baby using scissors and at first (with oldest) we always skipped that page with great disgust that it was in there…..but now we read it all the time to the 2 year old! ha How times change from kid to kid!

My Older two started cutting with guided activities around the age of 3; my youngest just started joining in around age 2 1/2! He is my craziest and has a hard time with rules, but for that very reason I want him to know the rules of scissors. He’s always so proud when he shows me how he properly held scissors while walking to the table from the drawers (pointy side down, in his hand!). He loves to cut paper and just makes a glorious confetti mess whenever he has a chance!

Hi Jaime, I love your work. Thank you for sharing your ideas, it’s always fun to spice things up. I have a 4yr old and I allowed him to cut when he showed interest, my philosophy on life. He’s been cutting paper, my dog’s hair (oops), herbs and play doh since. I will try the pasta though, he’ll dig that!

I have had my 3 year old cut strips of colored paper into confetti like pieces. Which we glued to a black background. I think this was the first cutting experience I did with her. She is 4 now and loves cutting things up.

Wow! I have to admit, I never thought of some of these activities, to use with my “little friends” to practice cutting. Thank you so much, for these wonderful ideas! I start teaching my little kids at age 2-3 years old. I have them just practice holding them, to start off with. I have had a few left handers also, I found it’s easier for a left hander to figure out how the scissors works as long as they have a lefty scissors. Thank you for the oppertunity to win the give away :)

Yes!!! I believe cutting is a great fine motor skill. I began using scissors with my kids at that age of 3, with supervision, of course! I did not want them practicing on their hair or their sibling’s hair!

I let my boys have scissors early on (around 2-3). They both love to cut the grass like dad! Also they have unsharp scissors to cut play-doh. And of course, fancy scissors for paper! I am a firm believe that with adult supervision, children should be exposed early to help with those fine motor skills. :)

When my kids were 3ish I gave them old magazines and scrap paper to practise cutting. Eventually we included glue sticks and construction paper, so they cut and glue. I absolutely love the idea of cutting different textures though. I’ll definitely start this with the little guy that I nanny!

I have 6 children, 2 are disabled. So they all started at different times. Right now we are working with our son who is disabled, he is 8 but functions at a 2 year old level. He gets so excited and just laughs every time the paper falls after he has cut it.

My son started at daycare cutting/tearing paper fringes right before he turned 3 years old. He also ended up cutting a few of his brand new clothes too. Not such a good thing but he loved to cut! It made him so proud of himself!

I can’t remember when my kids started cutting!! But my nephew just turned 3 and it’s one of his absolute favorite activities of all time. This post is great! I’ll be passing it on to my sister. I never even thought to have them cut playdough or food.

I think we started around two with my oldest. She wanted to cut everything and wasn’t listening so we refrained from cutting until her listening and following directions skills were a little better. Now she is 4 and loves to use scissors and follows directions.

I think I was one that waited a bit too long with our first. I handed her some scissors at age 3, but wish I’d done it sooner. My 2-year-old has cut paper once or twice, but this post is a GREAT reminder that we need to keep practicing. And we don’t have play-doh in the house…after buying it a few times and it being left out (scattered all over her room or the house) to dry every time, I was done. But this gives me the courage to try it out again, because using it for cutting practice sounds like a wonderful activity! :) Thanks!

I started cutting with my 2.5 year old and he loves it. He’s not cutting like a pro or anything but really responds to the “open close” movement. What I like about it is the cause and effect relationship that it shows them.

When did you give, or have you given, your child a chance to start cutting?
I gave my granddaughter her first pair of scissors when she was almost 3 years old. I looped a piece of yarn through the handle of the scissors and the other end of the yarn through the handle of a colander in the hopes of containing the scraps of paper; she was content for hours! I ordered a book entitled, Let’s Cutler Paper! (Rumon First Steps Workbooks) by Akaishi Shinobu ($5.95 http://www.amazon.com). She has truly enjoyed cutting pictures from that book. My granddaughter will be 5 in January and has graduated to using scissors to cut Player-Doh, noodles, foam, grass and dried leaves. It remains one of her favorite activities, often chosen over baking and finger painting! Thankfully we have not had any bang cutting episodes because I learned long ago that supervision is key to any successful activital with our children. Thank you for your site and all the wonderful ideas!

My first was 22 months when he used scissors. I was wrapping Christmas presents and his interest spiked. Now at 2.5 years he gets his hands on scissors about once every few months. My younger baby at 9 months it’s ready yet, but I believe she will try sooner than her brother did because she is always watching her big brother and wanting to do things he is doing.

Love all the cutting ideas!! As a kindergarten teacher many of students have not idea how to use scissors before school and these are things I can do at school and give to parents as ideas for home. Thanks!

My son is 17 month old and he has been going to a day care for the last 7
month, now I’m planning to stay home with him and his 3 month old sister. Your website is a lifesaver! We do activities with him every day and he loves it! We haven’t tried cutting with scissors yet, but the other day I got him a wooden fruit and vegetable set for knife cutting and it’s a hit! I think he would love to try cutting with scissors!

Hi Jamie,
I love your website and the super great ideas that you share. I started teaching my son, Henry, how to use scissors when he was 2 1/2 because I have a salon in my home and he’d watch me cut hair so intently that I thought I better teach him early the do’s and don’ts of scissor use. He caught on really fast to the point he was trying to cut his OWN hair. We now have created special activities (from your suggestions) for every day. Henry’s now 6 and still tries to cut his hair and other things he shouldn’t cut but that’s all part of learning. Thanks so much for your awesome ideas. BTW, I live in Iowa as well. Keep up the good work.

Our youngest was 8 years younger than our 3rd child. She thought she needed to do everything the older kids did. She began using scissors (with supervision) at 18 months. I have to say by allowing her to start that young had positive results. Her hand eye coordination was so much better than other children in her preschool class. Allowing children to develop at their own pace is the important part of any skill.

Hi Jamie, I had no idea I could handover the scissors to child that young ! And that there are scissors for such small kids, wow !!! I do try to catch up things from good websites (as yours) as I get time from work. And my 3 year old daughter and I do lots of activities together using these ideas I get from here and there…But sadly and clearly, l miss out a lot of things.
My daughter and I are equally excited now as I showed her these pictures.. She can’t wait for the week-end to do hands on this new activity, and you have already filled both our minds with ideas..Yes, I do take her ideas too and I feel 3 year old minds are more creative as they don’t set boundaries…
I’m sure she is going to enjoy it as much as she enjoys her present passion of paint and brushes !

My son is turning 2 next week and I have been racking my brain for useful new things others can get him for presents. This was a great reminder that we need to get some loop scissors to try out. Thank you!

My oldest son(now almost 4)started cutting at age 2. He was so curious and really had a good grasp on fine motor skills. My youngest is now almost 2 so this would be a great way to introduce him to scissors and how to cut.

What fun suggestions! I especially like the grass cutting. I’ll definitely give that a try with my kiddos this summer. My children are 2 and 5 and I let them start using scissors when they were 2. As an early childhood teacher and liaison, I know exactly how important it is to begin strengthening those fine motor skills at a very early age! Thanks for all the fun ideas!

I am a preschool/ Infant/Toddler teacher and I had my children in my program and we started practicing with scissors at about 17 months. They cut play dough to begin with and eventually progressed to helper scissors and real paper.

When my daughter was 3 she found some scissors and gave herself a very short haircut (she did not cut herself once). I decide it was definitely time to show her what we use scissors for. She loves cutting and I try to let her do it as much as possible. She has been getting really good.

I started with my daughter around 3.5 and she is crazy about cutting. It’s one of her favorite ribs to no and can occupy her for an hour or more at a time. My son has started a bit and he is a bit over 2.5. I have to be right next to him because he is stubborn and less careful. I might have to try the spaghetti, it might even help him eat more…spaghetti is one of those things he won’t eat since he’s gotten older.

I bought a Kumon Tracing workbook for my soon to be kindergartener for her to learn and practice cutting. She’s left-handed, so I bought a Fiskars left-handed scissors which has been so helpful! Paper dolls are another idea we have yet to try.

I’ve been wondering when to introduce cutting to my toddler! So far we’ve only used plastic scissors to cut play dough and he LOVES it (2 yrs 2 months)….but I’ve been curious when to let him use actual scissors for arts and crafts!

I started cutting with my son at about 2.5 or 3 with the scissors that don’t completely open they close and then spring open. He’s now 4 and still isn’t a huge fan but he’s definitely gotten so much better. Just got him regular scissors. Planning on trying them this week.

I let my oldest start cutting with scissors around 18 months old. He was very vocal so it was easy to talk to him about how to use them. The 2nd is about that age and she’s already stolen a mommy pair! I’ll have to make a safe activity for her to explore with some kids ones. And my now 3 yo would love cutting grass! Or noodles! Great ideas.

I try to give my kids lot of opportunities to practice cutting. My older one loves to cut out paper and make small drawings or “cards” for people. My 3 year old practices cutting along lines. Today their activity on the “Christmas activity countdown” is making spiral trees, so they will practice their cutting skills today!

My youngest son started using scissors around the age of three. He gets frustrated with it. We’ve only done it with paper so I love these other suggestions! The gift basket would be a blessing for sure!

Great cutting ideas, I think we’ll make the snowflakes today.
Both of my kids interest in cutting with scissors pretty early.. my old one was probably close to 3yo, and my younger one was under two when she first started cutting with scissors.

I started teaching my now three year old how to cut around his second birthday. His sister is 21 months old and we have already started her working with scissors as she ‘gets’ it better than her brother did at the same age!

I give him opportunities for cutting at meal times with his food and when we do craft activities to help him calm down. He also brings home projects from kindergarten that he uses his beginning cutting skills.

I have given my children many opportunities to cut things. Starting when they are young around age 2 with supervision. When we are out in our flower bed pulling weeds, well I pull weeds, they have the opportunity to cut the weeds. They love it! When we are inside we have a cutting day with paper and make snowflakes or I let them go to town on a sheet of paper.

I let my 2 year old son cut straws (from the Activity Room plan) and I was surprised how great he did. He is now 2 1/2 and know the correct way to hold scissors and how to use them. He just jumps right in when I let him use the scissors. Thank you Jamie for providing wonderful activities to help my son learn and develop skills in a fun way.

Both of my boys started practicing cutting at age 2. They were well supervised and used safety scissors before graduating to a kid pair of scissors. Both love to just cut paper into scraps and pieces. The especially like to make sea creatures that have tentacles!

I think my daughter (4 yrs) has started cutting in preschool but not often. She’s really interested in scissors so I bought her some plastic Crayola Ines off Amazon with good ratings but they stunk!! They cut water much less paper or anything else! After spending money on something that doesn’t work, and bow in stuck with, I haven’t gone back to try again. She sis, however, investigate my Fiskars while I was out if the room and cut a lovely hole in her pajamas shirt!

I’ve only recently started letting my daughter use scissors since she turned two. She loves to cut paper, and it’s so great for her fine motor skills. I love this post! I had never thought of using scissors with play dough. I bet she will love that!

I started letting my little one try to cut when she was 2. There was a lot more ripping than cutting but she loved to put her fingers in the hole and make the scissors “go”. I love these cutting ideas! going to try the straw one with my 2nd little guy tonight after school! Thanks for all your good ideas!

I can’t even recall when my Sienna started cutting with scissors. She came home one day from day care and showed me a heart she had cut out all by herself. We promptly bought scissors for her to cut at home. That was last Christmas. We was almost three.

My kids were different ages when I first stayed them with scissors. My oldest was two. She is very meticulous in everything she does. She enjoyed using them. My middle is 3 and she is just now starting. But she is wold like her mama and requires oh so careful supervision! My littlest is one. Maybe play doh scissors for him…but he still really likes to eat the play doh! Lol

I have helped my daughter homeschool her two children, a soon-to-be 3 y/o and a nearly 5 y/o. We started early this year letting the 4 y/o cut paper, yarn, noodles, etc. She has offered to cut things for me too! The 3 y/o will hopefully start soon.

My 3 and 4 year old have been taught to cut with gardening exercises (pruning small shrubs and plants) and craft activities. They began learning about scissors, shears, and pruners (they call them “nippers”) as soon as they were interested and could hold them properly. We first discussed the safety about the blades, and still have reminder sessions before each time they are used.

This is so great!! I have twin 4 year old girls and I’ve allowed them to cut paper and other soft items since they were 3 years old. They feel like big girls when they can cut things out on their own. I’m looking forward to doing some of these activities with them. Thank you so much for sharing these great ideas!

Just after his 3rd birthday. He was about to transition to a new daycare center rather than in-home care. I had a feeling they would expect him to have some idea. They were difficult for him to manipulate at first, but now he’s almost 4 and has learned so much!